Summary Of Imagery In Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven

Certain images or motifs invoke certain feelings. Movies use rain to signify sadness. Bunnies and baby animals are symbols of innocence and rebirth, especially around springtime. Using imagery to evoke a certain feeling is a powerful tool, as it can cause the reader to emotionally connect with a composition. Edgar Allen Poe uses imagery masterfully in The Raven to lace his poem with a melancholy mood. Without it, The Raven would falter and lose its layered depth. The Raven begins in a room, with a man and a book. The man reading the book in the room nods off. He awakes to a gentle knocking on his door, but dismisses it as an unwanted visitor. He is then frightened by his curtains rustling, his mind inventing threats as he regards with new suspicion the knock on his door. He reassures himself, however, that it is only “Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;/This it is and nothing more” (Poe, Edgar Allen). He gathers the courage to answer the door, only …show more content…
For example, the raven perches on a bust of Pallas, another name for Greek goddess of wisdom Athena. The man asks what the raven’s name is “on the Night’s Plutonian shore”, alluding to another ancient god, the Roman deity Pluto, who guards the underworld. The man also references Jeremiah 8:22, when he asks if there is balm in Gilead. According to the verse, the Balm of Gilead is a medicine that traditionally heals all wounds (Jeremiah 8:22). Used in this sense, the man is asking if there is any hope to escape his grief. By using these allusions, Poe adds to the mood of the poem. By having the raven, and grief, perch on top of Athena, Poe slyly acknowledges that all the knowledge in the world cannot ease the pain of death. Because the dead traditionally go to the underworld, Pluto’s namecheck underlines the presence of death. As a result of careful allusion, Edgar Poe adds to the undertones of the poem, giving it layers and